Shoe sole cleaners



NOV- 8, 1960 H. wALTr-:Rs

SHOE SOLE CLEANERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 1, 1959 may NOV. 8, 1960 H WALTERS 2,958,883

SHOE SOLE CLEANERS Filed June 1, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .gri E SHOE SOLE CLEANERS Henry Walters, 1430 Connaught St., Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada Filed .lune 1, 1959, Ser. No. 817,378

Claims. (Cl. 15--97) The invention relates to shoe cleaning machines and the principal object of the invention is to provide, vat'the entrance to a public building, a driven machine to elfectively clean foreign material such as sand, grit, mud and the like from both the sole and heel of a shoe and by so doing prevent such being tracked onto the floors and which is also of great value in places, such as curling rinks, to keep the surface of the game playing ice clear of such undesirable products.

A further object is to provide a machine embodying a tank containing a quantity of water in which the underside of a slowly rotated roller is immersed, the roller being supplied with a water absorbing wrapper which acts to wash off foreign material from the shoe sole and heel and carry such down to be deposited iny the .lower part of the tank, such occurring when the shoe is placed on the upper surface of the roller. t A further object is to facilitate the cleaning of the sides of the sole and heel by providingthe ends of the roller with circumscribing end anges over which the wrapping material is extended and against which the shoe can be side pressed to gather the foreign material lodged thereon. y

A` further object is to construct the machine so that the roller can be Vraised clear of the tank and without interfering with the driving connections for the roller and so that the tank can be emptied, from time to time, as occasion requires.

A further object is to provide a suitably supported and removable mat carried by the tank in advance of the upper part of the roller and over which the washed sole and heel can be drawn to dry olf excessive moisture after roller treatment and further to supply the tank with a removable cover at the rear, and which ca be removed for cleaning purposes or for replenishing with water as occasion arises.

A further object of the invention is to supply the machine with a suitably housed electric motor and an associated speed reducing gear box driven by the motor and to utilize the output shaft from the gear box to drive the longitudinally and axially aligned shaft of the roller and further to connect these latter shafts by a universal joint which will permit the roller shaft to be swung upwardly to clear out of receiving slots provided in the sides of the tank.

A further object is to provide a guarding superstructure to protect the passing p-ublic against accident and to so arrange such structure so that it in no way interferes with the one cleaning his shoes and provides him also with rail to grasp if he so desires.

With the above objects in view, the invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top view of the machine and with the enclosing casing for the motor and gear box shown in horizontal cross section.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the machine with the aforesaid casing shown in vertical, central section, longitudinally.

Fig. .3 is an enlarged vertical section taken at 3-3 Fig. l and looking towards the casing.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view at 4--4 Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a detailed view showing the slot which appears in each side of the tank to receive the roller shaft and also showing a bearing of any approved type, to receive and support the said shaft.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The operating parts of the machine are mounted on a base or platform 1 which is supported by corner foot pieces 2. On one end of the platform, I ixedly mount an electric motor 3 or other prime mover, the drive shaft 4 of which is supplied with a relatively small pulley 5. At the inner side of the motor and spaced therefrom and also on the platform, I xedly mount a speed reducing gear box which is indicated generally by the reference numeral 6 and of the well known and commercial type and its driven shaft 7 is supplied with a worm 8 which is meshed with the well known worm gear 9 which drives the projected end of the driven shaft 10. The rear end of the worm shaft 7 is supplied with a pulley 11 considerably larger than that shown at 5 and theV pulleys 11 and S are interconnected by an applied belt 12.

The motor and the gear box are enclosed within a sheet metal casing 13 which has its o-uter end hinged, as indicated at 14, to the platform 1 and its inner end vertically slotted at 15, the slot receiving the shaft 10 which is projected through the casing. This permits the inner end of the casing to be swung upwardly to give access to the motor and gear box for inspection, oiling, repair or other necessary purposes. To prevent tampering, the casing can be readily provided with suitable means for locking it closed. Y

0n the 'other yencl of the platform I mount a box-like tank .16 which passes from the front to the rear of the platform from which it is removable and rearwardly the tank is supplied with a lid or cover 17 and forwardly, with a transverse shelf 18 to receive and support a flat lying, drying mat 19 such as a strip of carpet, which can be removed and shaken when desired.

Between the rear end of the mat and the front end of the cover, an intermediate space is reserved to receive a transverse roller 20, the details of which are now described. The roller presents a cylindrical wooden core 21 xedly mounted on a central, supporting shaft 22 and with the ends of the core supplied with circumscribing end flanges 23. Around the core I tightly wrap a covering 24 of carpet-like material, which has its edges `enclosing the flanges and the whole being retained as by tacking.

The sides of the tank are supplied with opposing, vertical slots 25, the lower ends of which are tted with suitable bearings 26 to rotatably receive and support the entered, cross going, roller shaft 22. Actually in the nal position of the shaft 22 in the tank, it is longitudinally and axially aligned with the projecting end of the shaft 10 to which its inner end is connected by a universal joint 27 for driving purposes. End shifting of the tank is prevented by cross slats 28 secured to the platform but not preventing of the lifting of the tank for emptying purposes.

Water, indicated -at 29, is poured into the tank upon removing the cover 17 and its level will be kept below that of the bearings 26 and the arrangement is such that the underside of the roller is immersed in the water to maintain the nap of the roller wrapping 24 continuously damp `as the roller is rotated in the direction of the applied arrow in Fig. 3 and this with the expressed intent, that when Kan applied shoe is pressed on the top of the roller the grit, mud, sand and so forth will be washed off and carried down to gravitate from the roller into the bottom of the tank and during such washing of the shoe, the sides of the sole and heel can be rubbed against the end flanges of the roller. After the shoe or boot has been slo'washed, it is drawn over the mat 19 Ito -remove surplus moisture, as will be readily understood. The foreign material carried down by the roller is indicated at 30.

One can empty the tank at any desirable time by lifting the projected free end ofthe shaft'22, upwardly, to clear the roller from the tank, this being made possible by -the universal joint 27. That having been done, the tank can be removed from the platform and dumpedand Washed out and then replaced on the platform, and the rollercan then be re-set in its position to be driven, as occasionderrr-ands, by the motor. Both the mat and the roller wrapping can be readily replaced when they become too worn to do their work effectively, Iand obviously the mat can 4lbe shaken at any time, or dried. A

To guard against accident, I have erected on the platform a superstructure and indicated generally by the reference number 3l and which is made from tubing and interconnecting elbows and which in its assembly presents a hand rail Six well clear of the underlying roller and at a convenient height that one using the machine has something to grasp when cleaning his shoes or boots and which will, of course, be clear of the lifted, booted leg which is to be entered for boot or shoe cleaningpurposes.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. ln a device of the class described, in combination with a horizontally disposed, power driven shaft rotated at a relatively low speed, a tank to contain a selected level of water and supported in a horizontal position spaced from the shaft and crossing the longitudinal axis thereof, a second shaft crossing the tank and rotatably carried by the side walls thereof and positioned in longitudinal yalignment with the first mentioned shaft, a universal joint connecting the shafts and permitting'of the up-swing of the said second shaft to clearthe tank, a roller secured to the latter shaft and within'the tank 'and having a diameter such that the underside of the roller dips into the water within the tank, said roller being provided with circumscribing end anges, a wrapping of water absorbing material detachably wrapped around the roller and its flanges and a rigidly suspended, removable mat at one end of the tank'and positioned adjacent the upper part of the roller.

2, The device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the side walls of the tank are vertically slotted to slidably receive the second shaft and the said slots are provided lat their lower ends with bearings to rotatably support said second shaft.

3. The device as claimed in claim l wherein the end of the tank remote 'from the mat is 'supplied with a removable cover.

4. The device as claimedin claim 1 wherein a xed bar providing a hand grip is located in an elevated position above the roller and for hand gripping purposes when standing on the mat.

5. In combination, a horizontally disposed platform, an electric motor secured to the platform and with its driven shaft crossing the platform, a speed reducing gear box secured to the platform and providing a counter shaft extending longitudinally of the platform and driven by the motor shaft, a tank containing a predetermined level of water and rested on the platform and crossing the same and spaced from the counter shaft, said tank having vertical slots formed in the side walls thereof, a third shaft slidably entered in the slots and rotatably supported by bearings at the lower ends of the slots, said third shaft being Anormally in longitudinal alignment with' the 'counter shaft, a drum secured to the'said third shaft 'and within the tank 4and having its under 'side dipping into the Water of the tank and its ends supplied with circumscrbing end flanges, a wrapping of water absorbm ing material removably Wrapped around the drum and its flanges, a universal joint connecting the adjacent ends of the counter shaft land the said third shaft and a removable mat crossing and supported by the tank and in a location adjacent the upper part of the roller.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 823,972 Richardson June 19, 1906 826,806 Scoggins July 24, 1906 1,223,195 Molinaro Apr. 16, 1917 

